As he made his way up Sixth Street toward the Curry Senior Center on Turk Street, a band of beat cops walking behind him smiled and tipped their caps. Others on the street called out greetings such as, “Lookin’ good, OG,” and, “Like that suit!”

“They make me feel like a celebrity,” said Holman, 79.

He owns two other suits that are just as brightly colored, but the purple one was the first. He bought it shortly after finding permanent housing in November at the Raman Hotel on Howard Street, after too many years of bouncing from shelter to shelter – and worse.

The suits represent a new phase of his life, and he makes sure to take care of them – they go to the dry cleaners after just a few wearings. He doesn’t put one on every day – only when he’s doing “important” things like going the bank or, on this day, heading to the camera store to get his digital point-and-shoot fixed before stopping in at the Curry for free coffee and lunch.

Each suit was a $175 investment from a shop on Market Street. The confidence they give him is priceless.

“It makes me feel good to dress up,” Holman said. “People look at you differently when you go to take care of your business. … They stop wondering if you’re homeless.”
Looking for a fresh start

Holman moved to San Francisco for the first time in 2011. Before that he was living on the streets of Dallas, where a social worker hinted that he might find the benefits here more to his liking.

His family in Texas – three daughters and two sons – thought he was out of his mind to move to a strange city with no money, no relatives and no plan. He did it anyway.

After two days on a Greyhound bus, he disembarked at the Transbay Terminal and asked a clerk where he might find the fresh start he was looking for. He ended up sleeping in front of Glide Memorial Church for a week before cycling into the shelter scene.

Three months later he went back to Dallas, then headed west again, this time to Los Angeles. He ended up on Skid Row there, too, where he heard again that San Francisco was the land of opportunity.

Last year Holman came back, but this time he had a plan. He scored a series of short-term beds at the MSC South shelter at Fifth and Bryant streets, and in a few weeks his case manager found him a room at the Raman.

It doesn’t look like much if you’ve never lived on the street, but to Holman it was luxury accommodations.

The bathroom is right across the hall. He has a bay window that looks out on a relatively quiet alley. A one-leaf plant he potted grows toward the sun, and there’s a small armoire in which to hang his suits.

His case manager at the Raman, Samara Miller, said Holman can stay there forever if he wants. The 87-unit hotel is one of 16 single-room-occupancy buildings that the nonprofit Tenderloin Housing Clinic operates under contract with the city to house the homeless.

“When some people who were homeless for a really long time find housing, it works for them,” Miller said. “And then some are like, ‘I want to go back to my community (the streets) where my friends are.’

“It’s neat to see that Mr. Holman is so excited and appreciative of it here,” she said.
Saving money for emergencies

Now that he’s achieved a measure of stability, Holman says he’s able to sock away a bit of his Social Security and disability checks in case of emergency. He’s in love with his adoptive city and proud to be able to wear a suit when he wants to.

“You don’t have to be homeless, and you don’t have to be hungry in this city,” Holman said. “You can get free food seven days a week. You can get clothing twice a week. Housing if you want it. I was lucky to get this room. I’m gonna stay here for a while.”